republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20112012/ab-2371.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Veterans: criminal defendants: mental health issues and restorative relief."
description: "Existing law requires a court, in the case of any person convicted of a criminal offense who could otherwise be sentenced to county jail or state prison and who alleges that he or she committed the offense as a result of sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, or mental health problems stemming from service in the United States military to make a determination, prior to sentencing, as to whether the defendant was, or currently is, a member of the United States military and whether the defendant may be suffering from sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, or mental health problems as a result of that service. If the court concludes that a defendant convicted of a criminal offense is such a person, and if the defendant is otherwise eligible for probation and the court places the defendant on probation, existing law authorizes the court to order the defendant into a local, state, federal, or private nonprofit treatment program for a period not to exceed that which the defendant would have served in state prison or county jail, provided the defendant agrees to participate in the program and the court determines that an appropriate treatment program exists."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20112012"
identifier: "AB 2371"
citation: "California AB 2371 (20112012)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Veterans: criminal defendants: mental health issues and restorative relief."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Butler"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 19
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2012-02-24"
last_action: "2012-09-20"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0635284f-7868-460f-8b08-da2986d862ff"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB2371"
source_hash: "8b2b087828c2e967fb72a575bca475878cf9f97809239f9511f317c4ef5c0217"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 2371 (20112012) — Veterans: criminal defendants: mental health issues and restorative relief.

Existing law requires a court, in the case of any person convicted of a criminal offense who could otherwise be sentenced to county jail or state prison and who alleges that he or she committed the offense as a result of sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, or mental health problems stemming from service in the United States military to make a determination, prior to sentencing, as to whether the defendant was, or currently is, a member of the United States military and whether the defendant may be suffering from sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, or mental health problems as a result of that service. If the court concludes that a defendant convicted of a criminal offense is such a person, and if the defendant is otherwise eligible for probation and the court places the defendant on probation, existing law authorizes the court to order the defendant into a local, state, federal, or private nonprofit treatment program for a period not to exceed that which the defendant would have served in state prison or county jail, provided the defendant agrees to participate in the program and the court determines that an appropriate treatment program exists.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/24/12 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB2371&version=20110AB237199INT)
2. **04/19/12 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB2371&version=20110AB237198AMD)
3. **06/26/12 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB2371&version=20110AB237197AMD)
4. **09/20/12 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB2371&version=20110AB237195CHP)
5. **AB2371** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB2371)
6. **09/06/12 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB2371&version=20110AB237196ENR)

## Votes

- AB 2371 BUTLER Assembly Third Reading — **45–19** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended. — **4–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading AB2371 Butler By Correa — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 2371 BUTLER Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **57–16** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended. — **7–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Butler — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2012-02-24** Introduced. To print. `introduction`
- **2012-02-26** From printer. May be heard in committee March 27.
- **2012-02-27** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2012-03-15** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2012-04-10** In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
- **2012-04-18** From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 4. Noes 0.) (April 17). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2012-04-19** Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `reading-2, reading-1, amendment-passage`
- **2012-04-23** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2012-05-25** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 45. Noes 19. Page 4988.) `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2012-05-25** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2012-06-07** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2012-06-25** From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 19). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2012-06-26** Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1, amendment-passage`
- **2012-08-22** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 4691.). `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2012-08-22** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 24 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2012-08-28** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 57. Noes 16. Page 6439.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2012-09-10** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 5:10 p.m.
- **2012-09-20** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2012-09-20** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 403, Statutes of 2012.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0635284f-7868-460f-8b08-da2986d862ff`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).